


Sonic Crisis

by Avernale



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (Video Games)
Genre: Gen, POV First Person
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-27
Updated: 2017-12-27
Packaged: 2019-02-22 11:45:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 18,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13166256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Avernale/pseuds/Avernale
Summary: In a world conquered by Eggman, one brave girl rises to pick up where her fallen hero left off. But when that hero is discovered to be alive, she begins to doubt her self-worth. Based on the video game Sonic Forces produced by Sega. Sonic the Hedgehog, Eggman, and related characters and indicia copyright of Sega. Crisis the Coyote copyright of me, Avernale





	1. Fist Bump

I’ve had the same dream every night since the attack.  Since the day Infinite spared my life just to satisfy his own ego.  Every night I run from him.  The ground beneath my feet pushes me forward with each step, but instead of getting further away he looms closer, larger.  I feel his presence behind me, but I dare not look back.  His laughter echoes through my ears and we both know I cannot escape him.  It is only by his whim that I continue to exist.

I wake up in tears every time and bury my face in the pillow.  I didn’t want to disturb the other refugees with my sobbing.  It’s been rough on everyone, and the last thing those that could sleep needed was a coward like me crying all night.

As I regained my composure, I would take out the doll I had hidden under my pillow.  I don’t know anyone who didn’t have some kind of Sonic the Hedgehog memorabilia at one point or another.  Most of us abandoned them with the bulk of our belongings when we fled the city, taking only what we can carry, but some of us held on to some token of him to give us hope.  At times like this, I found myself praying to him.  I knew he couldn’t save our bodies anymore, but I prayed that his spirit would save me from the Infinite terror that pursued my soul.

And in a way, I think he did.

This one night, I started to wonder if he was as afraid as I was at the end.  Helpless before Infinite’s onslaught and the villains he had summoned back to our world.  He must have been.  It was unreasonable to think he wouldn’t.  But this was Sonic the Hedgehog.  If he wanted to run, no one could’ve stopped him.  He could have run and kept running, hiding in fear and shame for his failures.

Eggman should’ve told us that if he wanted to break us.  Instead, in spite of whatever fears he may or may not have had, Sonic kept on fighting to the bitter end.  That’s the Sonic the Hedgehog I believed in.

I had heard somewhere that bravery was being scared and doing the right thing anyway.  That was the ideal I decided to live up to.  I would look fear in the eye and spit in it.  Sonic’s heart may have stopped beating, but his spirit lived on inside of me.  I would take the hope he instilled in me and spread it as far as I could with heroism equal to – no, surpassing! – his own.  I would become a new beacon of hope the entire world would get behind.  Infinite wouldn’t stand a chance!

Easier said than done, of course.  The training was hard, but worth it.   I had always been a runner and hoped to be as fast as Sonic himself one day.  I got my head-butting down pretty good, too.  I could break steel now without so much as a bruise, but I could never figure out the homing attack.  The bears tried to teach me, but I couldn’t get the hang of it.  I eventually figured a work around with a grappling hook I eventually modified into a wrist-mounted grapnel.  Not exactly the same thing, but with proper timing I could chain attacks with the best of them.

My dreams changed, too, though I can’t say they weren’t exactly nightmares.  Instead of being chased by Infinite, I was pursuing Sonic.  I would run as fast I could, but he was always faster.  I could only see his back.

“Try to keep up!” His words would echo in my ears.  Even as he said these, he wouldn’t look back.  Sometimes he would add a teasing, “You’re too slow!”  They weren’t words meant to hurt me, Sonic would never do that, but they stung nonetheless.  I would reach out to him, beg him to slow down, and nearly touch the tips of his quills…

Then I would wake up.  Crying again, but not out of fear.  I’m not a sobbing mess anymore, so I don’t mind letting the tears flow freely now.  It was just so frustrating to believe I could never be as fast as him, as good as him, but that was no reason not to try.

Training alone would not make me a beacon of hope, I found.  For one reason or another, all the other trainees gave up and left.  I tried to convince them myself, but many of the people I talked to were too scared to go up against Eggman.  With his Empire now spanning the globe, the situation had become far too hopeless for them to risk their lives over.  In the end, I was the only one to join the resistance.

We were a small band by then, just a handful of Sonic’s friends and allies.  Most of the Chaotix were there, as well as Amy Rose and Silver.  Word had it that Tails was driven mad with grief and no one had heard from him since the incident.  And no one would even talk to me about Mighty the Armadillo.  Some of them had their doubts about me, but Commander Knuckles seemed pretty confident I could be of use.  I always thought he was an odd choice for leader of the resistance, but he seemed to keep things in order well enough.

It wasn’t long after that before Knuckles’ spies brought us the first/best good news we’ve had since the war began: Sonic was still alive!  Eggman had imprisoned him on the Death Egg and tortured this whole time.  Apparently, he wanted Sonic to see the full realization of the Eggman Empire before finally exiling him into space.  It was thrilling news, but also a little heartbreaking.  I did not want to see what six solid months of torture did to a hedgehog.  I couldn’t imagine he would be in the kind of state you’d want to meet your hero for the first time in.

Regardless, I accepted the mission to steal a shuttle from the Chemical Plant and rescue Sonic.  Needless to say, it was a harrowing experience.  It was a little like having your first recital at the Super Bowl Halftime Show.  I felt underqualified to have the entire world depend on my performance, but I wasn’t about to let anyone think I was intimidated by a mere trial by fire.  They could probably tell regardless, but that didn’t matter.  I had a job to do.

I nearly fell to my death several times, nearly got run over by a train, and I’m pretty sure I hit something trying to dock at the Death Egg, but all in all it went surprisingly well.  However, we searched the entire facility and found no trace of him.  It appeared its interment facilities were used up until recently, holding many of our kind captive, but if he was here he wasn’t anymore.  Still, Espio swore he could feel his presence somewhere nearby.

As we were heading back to the shuttle we were suddenly swarmed with enemies.  I managed to hold them off so everyone could escape, but I was quickly overwhelmed.  My Wispon was knocked out of my hands and I was thrown to the floor.  As the robots closed in all around, I found myself trembling.  Months of training and I was no different from who I was on that day.  A frightened child, unable to fight back.  Except this time, I didn’t have the benefit of arrogant mercy on my side.  Just cold, unfeeling machines.  I was convinced my luck had run out, and I would die in space, just inches from the finish line, not having made any difference at all.

And just like that, the robots were gone.  In their place was the Blue Blur himself.  I didn’t know whether to be glad to be alive, stoked to finally meet Sonic the Hedgehog, or annoyed at the irony of needing rescue from the man I was rescuing.

“Easy there!” he said as he effortlessly made a three-point landing after taking out the last robot.  “Everything’s cool.”  I took his hand as he helped me up.  “Are you here to rescue me?”

I was overwhelmed and reassured at the same time.  It was a good thing I was wearing gloves, because I’m pretty sure I’d never wash my hands again otherwise. (I almost had them bronzed!)  I maintained my outward composure, but with my jumbled mess of thoughts at the moment all I could muster was an affirmative grunt.

“Can’t tell you how much I appreciate it,” he said.  “It’s been a while since I’ve seen a friendly face.”

Before I could reply, Knuckles called me on my cell.  “Hey, rookie, you still in one piece?”

“Oh, sure,” Sonic said indignantly.  “Don’t even bother to ask how I am.”

“Sonic!” Amy said over the phone, startling Sonic.  “I’m so glad.”

“Hold up, Amy,” Knuckles said as I showed Sonic to the shuttle. “We’re all happy Sonic is alive!  But he won’t be for long if he doesn’t get off that egg in a hurry.”

“Your concern is touching, Knuckles,” Sonic said.

No sooner had we shoved off when Knuckles gave us our next mission.  Eggman had a weapons factory in Green Hill, Arsenal Pyramid, and we needed to take it out before moving on to his home base in Metropolis.  No rest for the wicked, I guess.  Even though none of us have had a chance to recover from our respective experiences, Knuckles wanted Sonic and I to tackle the mission.  I didn’t think it was fair for either of us, but Sonic was raring to go.  I suppose we’re all in the same boat anyway, so it wasn’t as if anyone else was going to do much better.

“So, you gotta name, kid?” Sonic asked me once we had a moment.

“I-it’s Chryseis, sir,” I said.  “But everyone calls me Crisis.  Well, I-I mean, everyone calls me ‘Rookie’ lately, but…”

“Crisis,” Sonic repeated.  “That’s a pretty cool name.”  I think my heart skipped a beat. “Crisis the Wolf.”

“Uh, thanks,” I said.  “But I’m actually a coyote.”

“Crisis the Coyote,” he said.  “Even better.”

I blushed and turned away a little.  “Thanks.”

“And just call me Sonic,” he said.  “No need for any of that ‘Sir’ crap.”

“O-oh, right,” I said.  “Sorry.”

He chuckled.  “I can see why they call you ‘Crisis.’  You nervous?”

“Y-yeah, a little,” I said.  “It’s only my first… second… third mission?  Kinda seems a lot for one day.  Plus it’s my first mission with you!  It’s all I’ve ever dreamed about and… Am I being creepy right now?  I-I’m being creepy aren’t I?”

“Have you _met_ Amy?” he asked.  “Trust me, you’re doing fine.”

I laughed.  “Good point.  If you don’t mind me saying so, you’re looking pretty good for someone who’s been tortured for half a year.”

“Yeah, well, not all pain is physical.”  I seem to remember an awkward silence here, but I’m not entirely certain that actually happened.  “It’s been months since I’ve I had a chili dog.  I think I’m going through withdrawal.” I’m pretty sure there was an actual awkward silence there. “That was a joke. I was trying to lighten the mood.”

“Oh,” I said, and proceeded to chuckle nervously.  Sonic snickered, then laughed.  Then I laughed.  We both laughing and it felt good.  I’d forgotten how long it had been since I had a good laugh.  It was just an absurd situation and I could feel the tension falling away.

“Seriously, though, I’d rather not talk about it,” Sonic said.

“Okay,” I said.

He glanced out the window.  “Looks like we’re almost there.  You’re fast, right?”

“Oh, yeah,” I said.  “I’ve been training to catch up to you, so to speak.  Although…”

“Hey, don’t worry about it,” he said.  “Just stick close and everything will be alright.”

As soon as the shuttle landed, we barreled down the road towards the pyramid that housed the weapon factory.  Knuckles offered to send in reinforcements, but Sonic was confident we could tackle the pyramid by ourselves.

Running alongside Sonic was exhilarating, but I didn’t think it could last.  I was keeping up well enough, but I knew Sonic wasn’t anywhere near his top speed.  I don’t know if it was that he’d been locked up for so long or I was slowing him down.  I wasn’t sure which scenario scared me more.  Then he started boosting.

I had to pour on the speed, and to my surprise I was running faster than I ever had been before.  I couldn’t believe I was keeping pace with him. As we blew past hordes of robots, knocking them every which way, I realized I couldn’t feel the wind on my face anymore.  I was in his slipstream!  He was in front of me, the air parting before him and closing behind me.  I was in the pocket of air created by his wake, reducing the air resistance that would otherwise be slowing me down.  I could now run faster without using up as much energy!  It was amazing!

But…

I was still behind him…

Like in my dreams, I couldn’t go past him.  I was stuck, here, staring at his back.  Only by his grace could I even attain this speed.  If I moved too far to the side, I would hit a wall of air and never be able to keep up.  I could feel my heart breaking.  My feet becoming heavier.  I was so close, I could touch him…

His words from my dream echoed in my head.  “You’re too slow!”  My vision blurred as tears gathered in my eyes.  In my desperation, I reached out to him…

“Time for the two of us to team up!”

…And he turned to me.  My vision suddenly cleared.  I could swear that, for one shining moment, I saw the world more brilliantly and vividly than ever before or since.

“It doesn’t matter what obstacles they put in our way,” he said as his hand met mine for the second time that day.  “We’ll blow past everything they throw at us! _Double BOOST!_ ”

For a moment, the world spun around us.  Suddenly, I was running faster than I even dreamed possible.  My heart was beating so fast, I almost thought it stopped completely!  The feeling of the wind against my fur was incredible.  The world was a blur except for what was right in front of me.  And Sonic could feel like this at any time!?

“Yeah!  That’s how it’s done!” he said.  He sounded so proud of me. “We’ve got unstoppable speed and timing! We just have to keep this up!”

I suddenly realized the path ahead of me was clear!  I could see _everything!_ I was no longer _behind_ Sonic. I was _beside_ him!  The tears flowed freely.  Not in fear, or frustration, but joy!  I was so happy.  I embraced the wind, allowed it to wipe my tears away and take my burdens with them.  I felt light, my feet barely touching the ground at all.  It was like I was flying.  I felt like everything I ever wanted was granted to me in this moment.  I wanted it to last forever.

Before I knew it, we had run up the side of the pyramid and overshot it.  We sailed through the air and plummeted down through the shaft that was open at the top.  The laser grid was barely a problem.  I stopped to catch my breath once we reached the bottom.  I may have been screaming the whole time.  I’m not sure.

Sonic felt water droplets hit his arm and he looked up at the clear, blue sky.  “Rain?”  He saw me doubled over and put a hand on my shoulder as he stooped down next to me.  “Hey, are you okay?”

I burst out laughing.  “That was amazing!  And you can do that at any time!?”

“Well, maybe not _any_ time,” he said modestly as robots approached from further in the facility.  “C’mon, we can discuss it later.  Right now, we’ve got a job to do.”

“Okay,” I said.  “Just… Just give a second.  I think I’m having a heart attack.  Wait, no, no, I’m good.  I’m good.  Let’s go.”

In my dreams, I no longer run from Infinite or after Sonic.  Instead, I’m right beside him, running wherever the road takes us.  They are the best dreams I ever had.


	2. Infinite Nightmare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wherein we fail the Bechdel test and take liberties with a boss battle to make Gurren Lagann references

I know I said my dreams regarding Infinite had changed, but by no means were they gone for good.  I’ve been fighting him ever since I began focusing on my training. I suppose the best path to victory begins with visualizing it, but how do you picture beating someone who can do literally anything?  I don’t always die, but I never seem to win, either.

I guess I have a ways to go before I can even _dream_ of beating him…

Sonic, of course, was a lot more confident than I was.  As soon as he heard Silver had encountered Infinite, he ran all the way to Mystic Jungle to fight him.  You wouldn’t think he’d fare much better than last time, when he was in peak condition, and to be fair he didn’t, but even Infinite seemed surprised that six months of torture and confinement had only made him stronger.  I suppose being stuck on your arch-enemy’s space prison is no excuse to skip leg day.

I know I sound like I’m making light of this, but to tell the truth I was scared of losing Sonic again.  It was a big risk to confront him and just demand the secret of his power.  I’m just thankful that Infinite was so arrogant as to not just finish off Sonic for real this time.  That’s the thing with Infinite; People’s fears feed his ego.  He leaves survivors to teach others to be afraid of him, but if he had half a brain he’d take out the major threats before they could mount against him.  Then again, with power like that It’s hard not to think he’s justified in his hubris.

I myself managed to pull off a rousing victory in the City.  Eggman was attacking with his giant Death Egg Robot sentinels, and we needed evacuate the civilians.  With Sonic and Silver still healing from their battle with Infinite and our remaining forces occupied with other battles, it was up to me to lead the charge.  I pretty much just made a commando run up and down Park Avenue, destroying every robot I could find, but I managed to make a huge impact.  We were not only able to rescue the citizens who couldn’t make it out before the battle started but we actually turned back the invaders!

Everyone was rather impressed with my performance.  Vector was even a little jealous of my skill.  To be honest, after Sonic and I took on Arsenal Pyramid together, I was riding pretty high.  I felt like I could do anything, and this victory did little to ease the swelling of my head.

Even so, I couldn’t help but think of the “little talk” I had with Amy after we got back from the pyramid.

“Look, honey, don’t get the wrong idea,” she said.  “But Sonic’s mine, alright?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I told her.  I honestly didn’t have those kinds of feelings towards Sonic, and I couldn’t imagine what gave her that impression.

“Not that I blame you or anything,” she went on.  “Sonic’s just got that kind of effect on women.  But don’t think you got a shot just because you Double Boosted with him one time.”

“Seriously, it’s not anything like that!” I insisted.  “I just… want…” I faltered a little. “…To run with him.  That’s all…”

Okay, admittedly, that did sound a little like a romantic notion.  I’d run beside him forever if I could, but I think I’m more addicted to the speed from the Double Boost more than anything else.

“Uh-huh?” she said incredulously.  “Can you honestly say you couldn’t possibly imagine being with him?”

I tried imagining it.  Him holding me in his strong arms.  Me gazing lovingly up into his eyes.

“Sonic darling,” I’d say.

“Crisis, my love,” he’d say.

I could feel the blood rushing to my cheeks, but I shook my head.  “No, no, no!  It’s just too weird!  He _is_ Sonic the Hedgehog, but… I don’t know… I mean… If he wanted to, I guess.  I don’t know if I could refuse him…”

I suddenly imagined him holding me down on a bed.

“No, Sonic!” I’d say, struggling in vain to break free from his iron grip.  “This is wrong!  You’re a married man!”

“But I love you, Crisis!” he’d insist.  “I must have you!”

I covered my face with my hands as it turned beat red.  “Gah!  Stop it!  You’re putting weird ideas in my head!” Another one suddenly occurred to me and I busted out laughing.

“What?” Amy asked.  “What’s so funny?”

“I just… I’m just…” I paused to take a breath and wiped a tear from my eye.  “I was just thinking… You know how prison changes a man.”

“No, no, no, no!” Amy shook her head.  “That’s not possible!  Not my Sonic!”

“We might not even have a chance anymore,” I said, nodding sagely.  “Shadow’s probably more his speed.”

“Don’t even joke about that!” Amy interrupted. I think her nose started bleeding. “That’s not even funny!  Sonic isn’t like that!”

“Alright, alright,” I said.  I put a hand on her shoulder. “Look, I don’t think I could date Sonic anyway.  It would violate my OTP.”

Amy smiled at me.  “Oh, wow, really?”

“Yep,” I said.  “Sonally all the way.”

Amy blinked in confusion.  “What?”

…Okay, maybe it didn’t go _quite_ like that…

Anyway, after I repelled the invaders in the City, Rouge said the instruments were detecting lifeforms near the lab in Mystic Jungle where Sonic had fought Infinite.  A jungle ought to be teeming with lifeforms, but the sensors wouldn’t be worth much if they couldn’t tell common bugs and reptiles from more novel creatures so Knuckles sent me down to check it out.

Navigating the massive water slide that was Aqua Road was a harrowing experience with insane twists and turns.  It took everything I had to keep from being thrown off the side.  Knuckles seemed to think it looked like a lot of fun, though. I guess it takes a special kind of person to enjoy being knocked around by Motobugs like bumper cars in a mosh pit.

I found a strange stone with black and magenta stripes just lying on the ground once I reached the lab.  I didn’t even have the faintest inkling of its significance then, and I had pretty much forgotten about it after the next discovery an instant later.  The two lifeforms Rouge had told me about were Tails and… Sonic? This was a different, younger Sonic that I later learned was from another dimension that was roughly five years behind ours.  Tails must’ve caught me staring, since he asked if we’ve met before.

Tails was pretty happy to see our Sonic after all this time. We all were, but the two of them were practically brothers.  I was a little surprised no one else seemed as weirded out about there being two Sonics as I was, but the two of them apparently met before so maybe I was just the odd man out.  I’m sure Amy was in Heaven, though.

It wasn’t all good news, though. Apparently, Tails learned that Eggman was planning to destroy us all in three days’ time.  Unfortunately, that was all he knew.  Three days didn’t seem like a lot, but Sonic was confident that it was more than enough time to turn things around.

There wasn’t any time to speculate, anyway.  Eggman’s forces had returned in unreasonably large numbers, led by that turncoat Shadow.  It was only later, after Sonic went out to face him, that we learned that this Shadow was a copy.  The real Shadow arrived to take out the copy and revealed that it was a virtual reality projection created by Infinite using the power of the Phantom Ruby.  Zavok, Chaos, and Metal Sonic were illusions as well, and with the Ruby’s power they were just as strong as the real thing. Worse yet, there was no limit to the number of replicas he could create with it.

I would’ve loved to go out and knock that knock-off’s block off, but Knuckles had other plans for me.  It seems that with the overwhelming force knocking at our door, Eggman’s Metropolis HQ was working with a skeleton crew.  Knuckles wanted to return the favor with a full-on frontal assault he was calling “Operation Big Wave.” He probably put more thought into the name than the actual plan itself, but Tails thought the plan had merit and who am I to argue with a boy genius?  With an extra Sonic and the Resistance’s star rookie, what could possibly go wrong?

There’s an old saying that goes, “The first casualty in battle is the plan.”  When your entire plan is the military equivalent of “Punch it in the face until it dies,” that’s a major problem.  It was going so well until Infinite showed up and literally turned everything upside down.

During my typical commando run I hit a ramp and sailed high into the air.  Before I knew it, he was flying right next to me.  I caught him out of the corner of my eye and my blood ran cold.  Even counting the time months ago when he spared my life just to watch me cower in fear, he had only ever been this close in my nightmares.  Did he single me out?  Why?  Did he know who I was, or was I just unlucky?  Or did he use his virtual reality powers to give everyone their own personalized vision of his countenance?

There wasn’t any time to think about it.  He wasted none of it activating the Phantom Ruby and plunging Metropolis into chaos.  I could hear Knuckles in my ear reminding me that none of what I was seeing was real, but I was too busy running on the ceiling and dodging giant Infinites to really pay attention.  Not just me; Everyone was having a bad trip.  Before we knew it, 80% of our forces had been taken down and remainder was MIA.  As far as anyone knew, I was the only one still capable of putting up a fight.  It was up to me to finish the assault.  No pressure, right?

Try as I might, though, I couldn’t make any head way.  Infinite was just too powerful, and the enemies too numerous.  Before long, the order to retreat came in and I was forced to flee the city.

I thought I was home-free, but in the chaos and confusion sown by Infinite I got turned around.  Once I realized my mistake, I had to backtrack across the city to the rendezvous point.  Things had quieted down already, so I thought I wouldn’t be spotted if stuck to the rooftops.

But I was wrong.

“More ants to crush.” I had heard Infinite before I saw him. “I wonder if this world can offer me a real challenge.”

He was standing on the edge of the roof, gazing out at Metroplis.  I don’t know how I got this close without noticing or being noticed, but I was thankful for that bit of luck.  Just seeing his back filled me with such dread it felt like my heart stopped beating.  Perhaps it realized what my mouth didn’t.  If I hadn’t gasped at that moment, I might’ve been able to sneak away unnoticed.

 “And as if to answer, the world sends me a trembling child,” he said.

He wasn’t wrong.  I could feel my body shaking as he slowly turned towards me. If I could have willed my body to move in that moment it would not have made a difference. In less than an instant, we were standing cheek to cheek.  He smelled like a hot, desert wind and reeked of burnt ozone.

“Are you going to fight and die here?” he said into my ear. I thought he had a hand on my throat, but I was instead choking on my own heart. “Or run away in fear again?”

I shrank away from the jackal.  I felt terrified, but also… also shamed.  As he said, I was a lost, frightened child.  I joined the Resistance to fight Infinite, but I was mere inches from him now and could do nothing but hold back tears of panic. This war could be over in a flash, but all I could think of was…

What would Sonic think?  What would he say if he saw me for the coward I am?

“Hey, don’t be scared!” his words echoed in my mind. “This is your moment to shine!”

That’s… That’s right!  Sonic would believe in me just I believed in him! I shouldn’t have doubted him for a second. Even if I didn’t believe in me, I would believe in the me that Sonic believed in!

“Keep going,” he would say. “Don’t let your fear own you!”

I swallowed my heart and grit my teeth.

“For the sake of the world, I will know no fear!” I declared.  “Fear is an illusion, and so is your power, you trickster!” I brandished my Drill Wispon. “What is real is this drill!  This is the drill that will pierce your sorry butt!”

“Fine,” he said as he pressed a couple fingers between the eyes of his helmet as if it were a pair of glasses. (I swear, he does that just to look intellectual) “I will teach you fear, then pain, and then... ” He crossed his arms and rose into the air. “Well, at least the fear and pain will end.”

The world distorted, and suddenly we were inside the building.

“You must be a straggler that got left behind,” he said as swarms of voxels emerged and swirled around me.  “The strong will always vanquish the weak. You only have your own frailty to blame.”

The voxels swallowed me, despite my best efforts.  I found myself in a distorted world, my vision dyed a vicious red.  It was hard to breath.  Missiles came at me from every direction as cannons materialized and dematerialized around me. 

I had to focus.  This world wasn’t real.  I revved up the drill and thrust it into one of the cannons.  The red vanished as the virtual world fell away, leaving me back in the room with Infinite.

 “Well, well.  It seems behind that fear is a spark of defiance.” He dove towards me, shrouded in a blazing, red aura.  I thrust my drill at him, but he caught it with one hand.  Sparks flew as it ground against his aura.  “And those eyes… I feel like we’ve met before.” 

He retreated back into the air, but I caught him with my grapnel and slammed bodily into him. We bounced off a wall and tumbled across the floor.

“You’ve put up quite a fight,” he said, rising to the air. “I underestimated just how desperately the feeble cling to life.” 

I scrambled to my feet and revved up the drill again. “That’s a funny way to say you got your butt kicked.”

He threw some energy blasts at me.  As I rolled out of the way, I realized I dropped the strange stone I picked up in Mystic Jungle.  In all the excitement, I had forgotten I even had it.  Funny how I hadn’t noticed how much it looked like the crystal on Infinite’s chest.

“I remember you,” he said as I picked the stone back up. “You ran from me before. You survived then, but you throw it all away now.” With a single pulse of energy, we were back in the virtual world. “Curious.” At the same time, cannons materialized all around me. “This will be good bye.”

I was backed into a corner with nowhere to run. As I braced myself for the end, I realized I wasn’t so much afraid as I was frustrated.  I was so close to ending the war I could taste it.  All that stood between him and me was a rapidly-encroaching wall of cannon balls.  If those cannon balls weren’t there…

In an instant, my vision cleared.  The air was easier to breath.  I was in the real world again.  There were no cannon balls, just me and Infinite.  The moment of clarity ended as suddenly as it began and the cannon balls exploded behind me.

 “What?” Infinite exclaimed, just as surprised as I was. “How is this possible? It can’t be… How did you?”

I chuckled. I thought I had him figured out.  As long as I didn’t believe in his power, it couldn’t affect me!

“Hey, Infinite,” I remarked as I revved up the drill again.  “What’s a god to a non-believer?”

I leaped at him, easily clearing the cannon balls fired at me.  I thought I had him dead to rights, but just swatted me away like a fly.

 “No matter,” Infinite said as he turned away from me. “They only have two days left. Let them contemplate the inevitable until I end this once and for all.”

And then he just left, as if I didn’t even matter!  I couldn’t believe it.  I wanted to scream at him, tell him to come back and fight me like a man!  I thought I was so cool up until that point, but I was just as arrogant as he was.  But despite my anger, I didn’t have the energy to go after him.  I just sat there, stewing in my own juices until Knuckles called my phone.

“Rookie, come in!” he said.  “Where are you?”

“Rookie here,” I sighed.  The title left a bitter taste in my mouth, but it was apt.  I was no hero.  Just some rookie who got in over her head. “I just… had a run-in with Infinite.”

“Oh my gosh!” Amy was on the line now.  “Are you alright? Are you hurt?”

“No, no, I’m fine,” I said, a little surprised Amy was showing concern for me.  “I’m just… I’m just…” My head and my Wispon hand slammed into the wall and floor, respectively.  “I almost had him!” I sniffled and rubbed my eyes with my forearm.  “I thought I had him figured out, but…” Even though they couldn’t see me, I tried not to cry but the tears came anyway.  “I’m just useless!  He doesn’t even bother killing me!  I’m useless!”

“Crisis, it’s fine.” Silver this time.  “That arrogance of his is just another tool we can use against him.  Now where are you?”

I dragged myself to my feet and pressed my forehead against a window.  “I dunno. I’m in a building in the middle of Metropolis?  There’s those weird fake trees outside? I think this might be a factory or something?”

“Okay, try to get to the roof,” he said.  “We’ll come pick you up.”

“No, it’s fine, I can walk,” I said.

“Don’t,” Silver insisted.  “Get to the roof and stay put.  We can’t have you wandering around right now.”

“Hey, Crisis?” Amy again.  “You wanna stay on the line so we can talk?”

I didn’t think there was much more to say, but… “Sure.”

Amy’s surprisingly cool once you get to know her.  I can see why Sonic hasn’t kicked her to the curb already despite her creepy stalker-crush.  It felt good to get stuff off my chest, and Amy shared a few things, too.  Nothing I would repeat here, of course.  That would be telling.  I was feeling a lot better by the time the extraction team arrived and we managed to escape from the city without much incident.

Still, I had a feeling my Infinite nightmares were far from over.


	3. Escape from Null Space

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes you win, sometimes you get banished to the Shadow Realm for all eternity

The failure of Operation Big Wave was hard on everybody.  Heavy losses and injured pride all around, so I suppose I don’t have much cause for self-pity.  The Resistance has been losing the war for six months now, so I suppose it’s nothing new to them.  But how many of them had a personal run-in with Infinite himself?  How many of them went toe to toe with Eggman’s ultimate weapon, summoned up all their courage not to run like a coward, only to be swatted aside and left for not even worth killing?

I mean, yeah, I’m sure we all thought we were right on victory’s doorstep.  That we could take Eggman’s headquarters and the war would’ve been as good as won.  But I was in spitting distance, literally could’ve spat right in Infinite’s eye, but I made one wrong move and now I’m back in the losers club with everyone else.  Of all of them, probably only Sonic could make that claim, and he’s only gotten more determined since then.  Heck, even now he just seems more amped up.  I wish I could be more like him…

Actually, now that I think about it Silver also fought Infinite.  He always seems a little on-edge to me, though, so it’s hard for me to say what he thought of it.  And, for all I know, every single member of the Resistance may have gotten a personal Phantom Ruby beat down before I even joined.  I was probably in good company, but around then it didn’t feel like it despite everyone’s attempts to console me.

This is what may have led me to do some late-night training.  I kept going over the fight in my head, and I didn’t feel like I was going to get any sleep until I worked it out for real. Or as real as possible.  I set up a hanging dummy and pendulums and other stuff as a sort of obstacle course to test out strategies and vent my frustrations.  I think I came up with some clever moves, but all in all I just felt the need to move faster, more precisely, and strike harder.

“Can’t sleep, either, huh?” Sonic asked.

Suffice it to say, I was surprised to see Sonic standing there.  I had assumed everyone else had gone to sleep.

“Yeah, I guess you could say I’m cramming before the big exam,” I said.  “I keep thinking about the fight, about what I could’ve done better.” I turned over the Wispon in my hands.  “I’ve also been tinkering with the Wispons, seeing if I couldn’t build a new one.  Something like that could give us an edge.  I’ve started working on one based around the Crimson Wisp that…”

“You don’t have to do that, you know,” Sonic said.

“Yeah, I mean,” I said, stammering over my own words.  “I know tech is more Tails’ thing, but I just… want to feel like I’m doing something useful.”

“C’mon, you’re plenty useful,” Sonic said.

“Yeah, but I lost today,” I said, looking at my shoes.

Sonic put a hand on my shoulder.  “But you also won today, remember?  You saved the City almost single-handedly.  You should be proud of that.”

“Yeah, I guess,” I said.  My eyes were on the hand on my shoulder and I found myself gripping my Wispon tighter.  “But I let that pride get to my head and…”

“And now you know better,” Sonic said.  His other hand went to my Wispon.  “Good things and bad things don’t always cancel each other out.  Sometimes, they’re just things that happen.  But no matter what happens, the important thing is to live and learn.  Win or lose, every experience is an opportunity for growth, but only if you put one foot in front of the other and keep moving forward.”

“I guess you’re right,” I said.  I didn’t really feel all the much better, though.

“I know I’m right,” he said as he took the Wispon from my hands.  “I also know that you’ll be at your most useful after a good night’s sleep.” He put an arm around my shoulders and guided me back to the barracks.  “Y’know, I was a lot like you once.”

“Really?” I asked.  That was news to me. I guess I pretty much assumed he was born this way.

“Yeah, probably,” he said.  “Maybe.  I was probably too young to remember.”

“Gee, thanks,” I snarked.  “Real inspirational.”

Having two Sonics is still kind of strange to me, and referring to him as “the other Sonic” doesn’t really seem right to me.  I can’t really call him the New Sonic, since he’s a lot like how Sonic was back in the day and he’s got a sort of “Bygone era” vibe, but he’s hardly an Old Sonic.  Our Sonic doesn’t really fit either of those, either, and it’s not like one is replacing the other. Maybe he could be “Young Sonic,” but I’m not actually sure how old he is. Retro Sonic?  Vintage Sonic, maybe?  I’m sure he thinks he is.

Well, I guess “Other Sonic“ will do for now.

So the next day, Tails and the other Sonic went to the Chemical Plant to find a database Rouge had told us about in hopes of finding out more about the Phantom Ruby.  They found out a lot of stuff we already knew (like the Phantom Ruby made illusions so real they could kill you), some stuff they didn’t want to know (how is it even possible to take that many selfies?), and something incredibly important: The Phantom Ruby required a massive energy supply.  Take it out, and the Ruby was little more than a fancy projector.

Before they could get back to us, though, we had a little visitor of our own.

“Metal Sonic has been spotted in the city!” Amy reported.

“Is it another fake?” Shadow asked.

“Why would they bother making a fake out of something that already isn’t real?” Sonic wondered. “Couldn’t they just build more?”

“The Phantom Ruby can make an unlimited number of copies, right?” I offered.  “And a high-performance unit like Metal Sonic is probably more costly to make than rank-and-file Egg Pawns.  A virtual copy that’s just as powerful as the real thing that you could make practically out of thin air is likely less of an investment regardless of how many you make.”

“Either way, it’s getting wrecked!” Sonic said. “Let’s go partner!”

“Right behind you!” I said.  Truth be told, I was actually looking forward to heading out with Sonic again.  I seriously doubted anything to could top that first Double Boost, but you never know.  I took the opportunity to ask him something as we headed out. “So, is it weird having a robot doppelganger?”

He looked a little surprised at the question, but quickly shrugged it off.  “You get used to it.  What’s weird is how he’s obsessed with me to the point of calling _me_ the copy!  I don’t know _what_ kind of sense that makes.”

“I think it’d be cool to have a robot double,” I said.

“Seriously?” Sonic asked.

“Yeah,” I said.  “Every hero has an evil doppelganger of some kind.  It’s like when Weird Al parodies one of your songs, except it’s evil and wants to kill you.  It’s how you know you’ve made it.”

Sonic chuckled.  “I never saw it that way.  In that case, I guess I should feel honored.”

“Watch out,” Amy said over the phone as we approached the Red Gate Bridge area. “Metal Sonic was spotted near there.”

“Strange,” Sonic replied.  “I don’t see him anywhere.”

Which was when the Death Egg Robot sentinel popped up from under us and destroyed the bridge we were on.  We weren’t told of any additional units in the area, so I could only assume it had been there since the last attack.  Either that, or it was spontaneously generated right there by the Phantom Ruby.  In any case, we were sent flying and made a safe landing on a ledge of debris sticking out of a wall.

“Phew!  That was a close one,” Sonic said as the giant robot set its sights on us again.

I grabbed Sonic’s wrist and shot a grapnel line into the machine’s chest, quickly zipping us out of the way of its fist.

“Good work, partner!” Sonic said as we swung around behind it.  “Keep it up.”

I know I zip-line into robots all the time, but this was probably the most harrowing fight I’ve had since Infinite.  Granted, the robot itself isn’t nearly as terrifying as Infinite, but I was also dragging Sonic around by the arm.  His life was literally in my hands at that point, and the Death Egg Robot was trying to swat us, so it was something of a thrill ride.  I managed to bring us up to the back of its head and, with a pithy line from Sonic, we quickly Boosted through its eye and into the elevator shaft the robot had busted open with its fist earlier.

“We can’t let these things keep rampaging around the city,” Sonic said as we landed at the bottom of the shaft and darted down the tunnel to the Red Gate Bridge proper.  Metal Sonic literally materialized right in front of us in a swarm of voxels.

“He’s a lot bigger than I was expecting,” I remarked.

“So this is thanks the Phantom Ruby, too, huh?” Sonic said as we took off after him.  A wall of voxels had appeared behind us and began sweeping forward, so this wasn’t really the time to question any of this.  “Eggman’s new invention is a real pain in the neck.”

As we pursued Metal Sonic across the bridge, more virtual robots and what looked like walls of lightning appeared in our path (can I really say he summoned them if he wasn’t real?).  The shield from my Asteroid Wispon made getting around those lightning walls easier, and Sonic Boosted us right through the waves of enemies.  Once we caught up we were able to get a few licks in on Metal Sonic before he decided to retaliate directly, attempting to Boost through us and leave a trail of lightning.  Once we managed to find an opening, we stunned him with a few good strikes.

“Here goes, partner!” Sonic said as he gave me his hand after we ricocheted off Metal Sonic one last time.  “When we join forces, the sky’s the limit! Double Boost!”

With that, we ran him down, Boosted through him, and busted him into voxels.  With the main threat gone, the other virtual dangers evaporated as well.  Once we slowed down, I found myself doubled-over and gasping for breath like last time.  Double Boosting was still amazing, but it also still took a lot out of me.

“Hey!  That was great!” Sonic said.  He held up a fist.  “We were like a well-oiled machine… fighting a well-oiled machine.”

I smiled and bumped his fist with mine.  “Good for you, too, huh?”

“It always is,” he said.

When we got back, Amy and Rouge met us at the entrance to the base.

“We’re gonna borrow Crisis for a sec, okay?” Amy said as she and Rouge grabbed me by the wrists.  Before Sonic or I could object, they had dragged me all the way to the womens’ barracks where some of the other girls were waiting.

“What’s going on?” I finally asked, baffled by the whole ordeal.  “We’re not going to have it out over Sonic again, are we?”

“Of course not!” Amy said.  “We can settle that once the war is over.”

“Although, add some mud and it might just boost morale,” Rouge remarked.  “But no, sweetie.  As thanks for all your hard work, we decided we’d give you a little makeover.”

“…A makeover?” I knew that that meant, but I was still processing this development.  Since the war started, I hadn’t even imagined doing something this… _girly_.  With a couple of the world’s greatest heroes, no less!

“Eggman’s gonna wipe us out in a tomorrow, right?” Amy said.  “You don’t want to wear _that_ dowdy bodysuit for the rest of your life, do you?”

“I know I wouldn’t be caught dead in it,” Rouge joked.  Well, I think it was a joke.  “You’re no mere rookie anymore, you know.  Soon you’ll even surpass the rank of soldier.” She put a hand on my shoulder.  “You’re going to be a hero, and now you’re going to look the part.”

I’m not going to bore you with the step-by-step details, but I’m pretty excited with my new look.  Let’s start with my hair.  Normally, it’s the same shade of yellow as my fur, but I decided to dye it black and we added a purple streak in my bangs just off-center of my forehead and down the back of my head.  We also teased it out into a puffy, emo-style that partially covers my right eye.  I also considered using contacts to change the color of my eyes, but I decided I preferred their natural green over sticking something in them.

I tried on a number of different outfits.  Rouge and Amy even tried to dress me up as them, which I hope was a joke.  I tried them on anyway for fun, and I didn’t look half bad in them.  But when I saw the purple bomber jacket with the Chinese dragon on the back, I just had to wear it.  Then I added a white t-shirt, black leather pants, a pair of black canvas sneakers with purple laces, and some high-tech-looking fingerless gloves.  Then I topped it off with a pair of dark-tinted safety glasses.

“How do I look?” I asked as I stood with my hands on my hips in a super-heroic pose.

“Like a 1980’s cyberpunk hacker,” Amy said.

“Good,” I said.  “That’s what I was going for.”

“I think you look fabulous, darling,” Rouge told me.

“I feel fabulous,” I said.  “Thanks you guys.  I really feel like I needed this.”

“I think we all needed this,” Amy said.  She excitedly grabbed my hand and dragged me out of the room.  “C’mon, let’s go show the boys!” Before I knew it, Amy had thrown open the doors to the situation room and everyone was staring at us.  “Preeeeesenting: The new and improved Crisis!”

I may have imagined the prolonged moment of stunned silence before the general sounds of approval from the assembled crowd. 

“You look great!” Vector said.  “Like a real member of the team!”

Those words made me surprisingly happy.  I hadn’t realized until then that I was waiting to hear something like that.  I had taken for granted that we were all working together towards a common goal, but I hadn’t thought of myself as one of them. I figured I was just another soldier standing among heroes, and being accepted by them was an amazing feeling.

“Yeah, you look awesome,” Knuckles said.

“I _feel_ awesome!” I said.

“You look like an eighties cyberpunk hacker,” Shadow said.

“I _feel_ like an eighties cyberpunk hacker!” I said.

Everybody laughed.  Well, Shadow may have chuckled.

“Can you hack?” Charmy asked.

“Yeah, but only eighties cyberpunks,” I said. “Seriously, though, I feel like I could do anything!”

“I got it, Sonic!” Tails suddenly declared.  “I figured out a way to stop Eggmans’ Phantom Ruby!”

“By hacking?” I asked.

“Kind of,” Tails said.

“Great work, Tails!” Sonic said.

Tails went on to explain, “Based on these readings, the Phantom Ruby requires an incredible amount of energy, which only the Death Egg can provide.  We simply stop the energy transfer, and boom, the Phantom Ruby is practically useless.”

“Simply?” Knuckles remarked.  “Last I checked, the Death Egg is a heavily fortified… well, Death Egg.”

“True,” Tails said.  “But I came up with a plan.  First, we distract Eggman.  While he’s not paying attention, we use the Chemical Plant computer to hack into the Death Egg’s weapon systems and shut it down. With no weapons, destroying the Death Egg will be a piece of cake.  No Death Egg means the Phantom Ruby is nearly useless.”

“Well, you know it’s just crazy enough to work,” Knuckles said.  “So first we need a distraction.  I’m on it!”

“No way, Knuckles,” Amy said.  “You’re too easily distracted.  That’s not a good trait for a _distraction_. Plus, you’re our commander!  We kinda need you here.”

“How about the rookie?” Silver suggested.  “Eggman would never expect it.  It may even throw him off a little.”

“Good idea!” Knuckles said.  “You got your orders, rookie. We only have one more day before Eggman’s plan is executed, so let’s hustle!”

“You can count on me, boss!” I said.  “I’m all over it!”

So, long story short, I fought a giant, enemy crab and hit its weak point for massive damage.  Not even kidding. Well, more like it chased me all over Guardian Rock, but I did eventually bring it down by entangling its legs with my grapnel.  While that insanity was going on, Sonic and Tails went to the Chemical Plant to hack into the Death Egg as planned.  This apparently didn’t amount to much, as the automated defenses were still up when the other Sonic arrived.  It didn’t stop him from destroying the Death Egg, he _is_ Sonic after all, but if I’m glossing over this part it’s because it’s only because it didn’t turn out to be the game-changing victory we thought it was at the time.

With the Death Egg down and the Phantom Ruby disempowered, we decided to press our perceived advantage and attack Eggman’s headquarters in Metropolis again.  Hopefully, it wouldn’t be a repeat of Operation Big Wave.  We expected him to be at the Central Tower, so when we didn’t find him there we spread out to search for him.  This resulted In a city-wide battle, but it wasn’t anything unexpected and we held our own pretty well.  With more Resistance forces on the way, the battle was going almost _too_ well for our side…

When I caught wind that Sonic and Tails had tracked down Eggman to a rooftop along the Metropolitan Highway, I managed to break away from the robots I was fighting and try to find them.  It was a confrontation I just couldn’t miss, and I had a feeling they might need my help.  A bad feeling.  Sonic was still connected to the party line and I could hear him talking to Eggman.  Infinite produced something called null space and I poured on the speed.

“Null space?” Sonic questioned.

 “It’s a little something that the Phantom Ruby cooked up,” Eggman explained.  “A closed-off space where absolutely nothing exists!”

I was racing my heart and it was a dead heat.  Forget that it should be impossible, that there was no way the Phantom Ruby should be able to do that now. If Sonic got caught up in that, there may be no rescuing him this time.  I willed myself to swing faster and leap further, praying that I wasn’t too late.

“Goodbye, Sonic, my soon-to-be-eradicated nemesis,” Eggman said. I could practically hear him in the distance as well over the phone now.  “Enjoy all the nothing!”

I could see Eggman and Infinite shoot off into the distance.  What looked like a dark cloud peeked out above the edge of the roof ahead of me, a hole in space-time that only grew larger as I approached.  I leapt off and swung down just as Sonic was losing his footing and caught him by the wrist.

“Crisis! Don’t!” Sonic pleaded. “You’ll get sucked in, too!” 

I could see the fear and panic in his eyes.  He was already halfway in the hole, but I could tell he was more scared of my fate than his own.  I only became more resolute, however.  I would not come all this way for nothing!

“I’m not letting you go!” I shouted over the roar of the wind being sucked into null space.  “We can’t afford to lose you again!  Not now, not ever!”

It was a rousing sentiment, but where the spirit was willing the steel was weak.  My grapnel gave out and we wound up getting sucked into null space together.  I found myself curling into a ball as darkness enveloped me.  I could feel myself sinking, both physically and emotionally.  I failed.  Again.  Only this time, the bad guys corrected the oversight Infinite made last time.  We were in a world of complete nothingness.  As good as dead.

I could hear Sonic call out to me.  “Crisis!  Are you alright?”

“No,” I said.  I unconsciously reached for the Sonic doll I kept in my pocket.  “I got us both killed.”

“Hey, don’t blame yourself,” Sonic said.  “I was getting myself killed just fine before you showed up.”

I stifled a chuckle. “Stop it.  You’re ruining a perfectly good bad mood.”

“I certainly hope so,” Sonic said.  “Because this is no time to sit around feeling sorry for ourselves.”

“It’s not like there’s much else to do,” I said.

“Crisis,” he said.  He put a hand on my shoulder. “We’ll find a way out of here.”  His other hand pulled my hand out of the tight bundle that was my body and held that, too.  “Remember what I told you.  Just put one foot in front of the other and keep moving forward.”

He was right.  There had to be something we could do, even here.  I started to feel less of a physically-sinking feeling and uncurled my body.  Strangely, I could feel solid ground beneath my feet, even though there should be nothing.  Had we reached the bottom?  Was there even a bottom to nothing?

“Crisis?” Sonic said.  “Open your eyes.”

I had forgotten I had closed them, but I also hadn’t expected to be able to see anything.  There shouldn’t even be light here.  But what I saw was amazing.  I took off my glasses to see it better.  It wasn’t so much black as it was purple.  Various shades of purple.  Above us, in what could only be called the sky, was an irregular, violet grid from which purple, crystalline spires hung.  We were standing on an undulating surface comprised of large cubes that stretched out for a couple meters all around us as lavender energy swirled around the periphery.

“Wow,” I said.  “Nothing is surprisingly… eye catching.”

“It wasn’t nearly this weird when we came in,” Sonic said.  He looked down at my hand.  “What are you holding?”

I blushed.  “This? It’s nothing.  It’s just…”  I looked down and realized I wasn’t holding the doll I thought I reached for.  “This…  This is the stone I picked up outside Eggman’s lab in Mystic Jungle.  I found it just before I met Tails and the other Sonic, so I’ve been holding onto it for good luck.”

Sonic began pacing around the platform, watching cubes rise up to meet him as he neared the edge and fall away as he roamed.

“Crisis,” he said thoughtfully.  “What would you think the exit to this place would look like?”

“I dunno,” I said.  This place was kinda weird.  A free-standing door with the word “Exit” written on it wouldn’t be out of place, but that felt unlikely.  “We came in a black hole, so maybe… a white hole?”

Sonic stared out into null space pensively for a moment, then smiled. “Yeah, that should do it.”  He began stretching before walking off into the distance.  “C’mon, let’s go.”

“What?” I said.  I ran after him as he picked up speed.  “Where are we going?”

“This isn’t where we were meant to end up,” he said.  “Let’s head back.” He held out his hand to me like he did before. “Everyone is waiting for us.”

I grinned and took his hand.  I wasn’t going to doubt him for even a second.  Besides, running beside him forever wouldn’t be so bad.

 “Double Boost!” he declared as we speed forward.  The faster we ran, the faster the blocks rose and fell. 

I could see it almost immediately.  A brilliant white in the distance, framed in red.  Lavender energy spiraled around us like a tunnel and ruby mist blew past us.  As we picked up speed, the light grew brighter.  It didn’t seem to get any closer at first, but the faster we went the larger the source of light became.  The larger and brighter it became the more I believed we could escape, but I could also feel the void resisting us.  I could feel a mysterious, physical pressure trying to slow us down, but I still believed and pushed back harder.  I could feel an odd doubt, understandable but somehow alien, pressing into my mind, but the more it weighed me down the more I wanted to believe…

“We’ve got this!” Sonic called out.  His voice eased my worries as the light began to envelop us. “Keep it up, partner! Nothing can contain the two of us at max power!  Not even null space!”

For a moment, I thought I could feel the barrier of space and time itself press against me.  The membrane between the possible and impossible thinning as it stretched against my fingertips.  Whatever doubts were in my mind were forgotten.  I ceased thinking entirely and grasped it as if tearing off a plastic wrapper.  All at once, the pressure was gone, physically and mentally.  Even before my vision returned, I could feel the cool breeze, the warm sun, and the noxious exhaust fumes of the city.  Compared to the prison of null space, it all felt wonderful.  It felt real.  It felt like life.

“‘Sup, everyone,” Sonic said as we returned to Metropolis.  We ground down a rail before leaping off and running along the side of a building.  “I missed this place.”

“That was amazing!” I cried out. “We just outran… Time?  Space? I don’t even know what to call that!”

“What happened, Sonic!?” Knuckles asked over the phone.  “The two of you just up and disappeared!”

“Nothing happened,” Sonic said.  “ _Literally_. Now let’s track down Eggman!”

“You don’t have to say it as if we almost made out,” I said.

“What?” Sonic asked.  “What’d I say?”

The battle was still underway as we navigated around the city.  In fact, despite the presence of both Eggman and Infinite, we seemed to be winning.  We were beating them so bad that the two of them were too distracted to notice us until Orbot pointed us out to Eggman.

 “What!? It can’t be!” Eggman exclaimed, swatting Orbot aside as her turned to face us. “It’s impossible to get out of the Phantom Ruby’s null space!”

Infinite chuckled.  He’s a little hard to read with that mask on, so I couldn’t tell if he was being derisive or genuinely impressed.

“Maybe by myself, but I had a little help from my friend,” Sonic said as he gestured to me. “Something you wouldn’t understand, since you don’t have any friends!”

 “This changes nothing!” Eggman growled. “Dr. Eggman will still have the last laugh!”

 “Maybe he’d have more friends if he didn’t talk about himself in the third person,” Sonic commented as Eggman and Infinite flew off.

“Maybe we shouldn’t be letting him get away so easily?” I remarked.

Sonic looked out at Eggman shrinking in the distance.  “I don’t think he’s going very far.  There’s only an hour until he unleashes his master plan.  Might as well see what he’s up to at this point.”

I think I’m starting to see why we’ve been losing for six months.


	4. Dawn of the Daybreaker

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If you're going to take out the sun, you're gonna do it with style!

“We’ve got less than an hour before Eggman’s plan goes down,” Knuckles said.

 “There’s no more time,” Shadow said. “We have to break into the fortress now.”

 “Indeed,” Silver said.  “This is it-- our last chance to bring peace back into the world.”

The battle for Metropolis was over about as soon as we took the Central Tower.   Remotely deactivating the robots and automated defenses wasn’t difficult.  Any robots Eggman could still control were likely being concentrated at the Iron Fortress.

Knuckles, Amy, and the rest of the mission control crew arrived shortly thereafter.  Metropolis was being used as a staging area at this point in preparation for the final battle.  Resistance forces from all over were arriving, reorganizing, and resupplying.  Tech crews were working frantically to reprogram the robots to fight on our side.  It was going to be an all-or-nothing battle, and we needed all the help we could get.

Tails fidgeted apprehensively. “But… when the battle ends, we’ll have to part with Sonic-- I mean, _this_ Sonic-- won't we?”

“Yes,” Amy said. “If the Phantom Ruby is gone, I guess he’ll be returned to his dimension.”

“Thank you for everything, Sonic,” Tails said. “I’ll never forget what you did for us.”

The other Sonic put a reassuring hand on Tail’s shoulder and gave him a thumbs-up.

“Save the sentiments for later,” Espio said. “This is not over yet. We still have a battle to fight.”

“Exactly,” Knuckles said. “This is our last chance. Give it everything you’ve got.”

Tails wasn’t the only one anxious about this fight.  About losing someone.  I suppose that didn’t exactly narrow it down.  This is war, after all.  A war I realized was almost over.  And after that… then what?

I had made a lot of friends in the Resistance, both among its legendary leadership and the lesser-known rank and file.  We wouldn’t have met if it weren’t for the war, and if it went away what would keep us together?  Was it the only thing we had in common?  A lot of us had dreams of what we’d do once peace was restored, and we may not be able to do all those things together.

I hadn’t really thought about what I was going to do after the war.  I had this idea of being a hero, but that was pretty nebulous.  I suppose I could just go back to my old life, whatever of that still remained.  Sonic and his friends weren’t known for laying down roots, aside from Knuckles as guardian of the Master Emerald on Angel Island.  They might not even all stick together and just scatter to winds, only gathering once Eggman rears his shiny head again.  As I’ve said before, I’d run alongside Sonic forever if I could, but I feel as though I’d just slow him down.

I’m ashamed to admit part of me wanted the war to never end.  It’d be simpler if everything stayed just the way it was.  It was a selfish desire.  I know more war just means more suffering, for others if not myself, but it… It was familiar and comforting, in a way.  The war was another friend I’d lose once it ended.  An abusive one you can’t leave for fear of being all alone in a world that made no sense anymore.  One you’d be all the stronger for leaving, and hopefully never seeing again.

Before I knew it, the battle was underway.  Our army of rebels against Infinite and his army of virtual villains.  He didn’t even bother digging up new faces; Just Zavoks, Metal Sonics, Shadows, and Chaoses as far as the eye can see.  I don’t know if he was spreading himself thin, conserving energy for Eggman’s big plan, or simply not even trying, but they were nowhere near as strong as the originals.  Each one was no more a challenge than Crabmeat.

We broke through the first line in no time.  Behind them, however, was Infinite with another wave at the ready.   Sonic rushed ahead to meet him.

“Hey, Infinite,” he said, skidding to a stop. “Long time, no see! Did you miss me?”

 “Why, yes, I did,” Infinite said.  “I’ve been looking forward to finishing you and your annoying friends!” He activated the Phantom Ruby, knocking everyone off their feet. “I trust you’re all ready for oblivion? If you’re not… oh, well.”

It was at this point Omega appeared and shot at him.  Everyone made a big deal about it at the time, but it really didn’t amount to much in the end.  If it hadn’t annoyed Infinite so much, I wouldn’t have even mentioned it.

“Is there no end to these annoying insects?” he growled. “I will burn your resistance to ashes, and you along with it!”

With that, he tensed up before shooting a single bolt of energy into the air.  It disappeared into the clouds before exploding, but not in the sense that it was destroyed.  It hung there, a world of fire enveloping the sky.

 “Whoa,” Knuckles said. “You’ve gotta be kidding.  That’s just a special effect, right?”

 “No, it’s not!” Tails said. “While we’re under the Phantom Ruby’s control, it’s a part of our reality!”

 “Unbelievable,” Espio said. “What chance do we have against that?”

 “The sun will fall upon you all,” Eggman said as he flew in on his Eggmobile.  He never could resist a chance to gloat in person. “BOOM!  THE END. You’re pathetic lives are over.”

The virtual sun was beautiful and terrifying to behold. The real sun was large enough to fit the entire rest of the solar system inside.  Not even Sonic could run from something like that forever.  An illusion of fiery death that could flow into every nook and cranny of our world and burn away anyone who dared oppose him.  All that would be left behind was… I can only assume the power of the Phantom Ruby could selectively influence whoever the user wanted, regardless of the size of the area of effect.  Why else would Eggman be right here when he could just as easily be safely off-world?

Times like this, when I need all the faith I can, I find myself reaching for that Sonic doll I keep in my pocket.  Silly to think I still have it, even with the real Sonic so close.  I don’t have to ask what Sonic would do in a situation like this.  He was right here in this situation with us!

…But he wasn’t doing anything.  Just staring with awe and concern like the rest of us.  What was he doing?  It wasn’t like him to spend a lot of time thinking.  Was he frozen in terror?  Also very much unlike him, I thought.

I thought back again.  He was on the Death Egg for six months.  He was allegedly tortured for half a year, but showed no physical scars.  He acted normally from all accounts, but wouldn’t talk about what happened on the Death Egg.  Just that not all forms of torture were physical.  And Rouge did say Eggman was keeping him alive to show him his completed Eggman Empire before exiling him into space.

Was that what you were doing all along, Eggman?  To condition Sonic to fear the falling sun?  To watch in terror, be it on Earth or in space, as everything he knew and loved was washed away in a sea of atomic fire?  Was this to be your final revenge, you deplorable, sickening, corpulent husk of a man?

I was so focused on the sun as it reflected my anger that I almost didn’t notice Tails until he was right beside me.

 “Look. It’s reacting,” he said.

I looked down at my hand, surprised yet again that I was holding that strange stone instead of my totem.  The way it thrummed and glowed made it even more shocking that I hadn’t noticed until now.

“Eggman said something about the Phantom Ruby prototypes!” he continued before extending a hand. “Let me see.”

“Phantom Ruby prototype?” I remarked as I handed over the stone.  I guess it made sense that even someone as “Brilliant” as Doctor Eggman couldn’t get something right on the first try.  I was a little embarrassed to admit that I hadn’t made the connection until now.  It made some of the happenings from my last two encounters with Infinite make more sense.

 “Whoa. It is,” Tails said as the glowing and thrumming stopped. “He said the Phantom Ruby prototypes only react to the person who activated it. That must be you, Crisis!” I still wasn’t quite sure what to make of this, so I just nodded as he handed back the Ruby.  “Your courage and heroism are probably what triggered it. Just maybe, if you use this, it can make that sun disappear.”

I gripped the Phantom Ruby prototype in my hand and looked up at the virtual sun.

“Right, here goes,” I said.  I held up the Ruby and concentrated.  I’ve only ever activated it unconsciously, but I figured I could make it work through sheer force of will.  Sure enough, a pocket of pure reality expanded outward from me… And promptly collapsed again.

“Huh,” Tails remarked.  “Well, I’m sure we’ll figure out another…”

“No,” I said firmly.  “I can do this.  I _will!_ I just… I just need to get closer!  C’mon!”

“Wha- hey!” Tails complained as I tried to climb on his shoulders.  “What are you doing!?”

“I need you to fly me up there!” I explained as I struggled to maintain balance on his back.

“Okay, one, you can’t ride me like a horse,” Tails said as he finally threw me off.  “I’m smaller than you.  Two, I can’t carry someone that far.  I’m just not that strong.  Try something else.”

“Right,” I said.  “Sorry.”  Looking around, I could see there were still airships in the sky.  Too far away to hit with my grapnel from here, but if I could get up one of those towers… “I got it!”

I immediately took off for the nearest tower.  I didn’t expect anyone to follow, but when I looked back Tails was headed back to the main group.  As I approached the tower, I could hear their chatter over my phone.

“We made it so far,” Knuckles said with a grunt of frustration. “We were so close.”

“This is truly world-shattering!” Espio said.

Vector also growled in frustration. “Isn’t there anything we can do?”

 “Maybe we need to fight fire with fire,” Tails said. “If you can get close enough to that sun, the prototype should cancel out the effect.”

“You’ll be burnt to a crisp before then!” Knuckles exclaimed. “Give it up, rookie!  Fall back!”

I think I can see what Tails was trying to do.  He was telling everyone what I was doing so they could cheer me on.  So far, it wasn’t working.  No one had faith in me.  I was just going to have to prove them wrong.

“If you have a better plan, boss, you better get to it,” I said.  “’Cause if I’m getting a sunburn regardless, I might as well take a crack at that sun while I still can!”

The tower was a difficult climb, and Eggman’s robots weren’t making it any easier.  I could still hear what everyone was saying.  They realized it was pointless to dissuade me and could only pray for my safety.  And, of course, Eggman wouldn’t be Eggman if he didn’t put his two cents in.

 “You think you can stop the sun?” he said, taunting me with an evil laugh. “You’ll burn up like a moth drawn to a flame.  It’s over.”

“If you ask me, I’d say things are looking sunny-side up,” I said.  I hit a bumper that sent me flying to the next part of the tower.

“What was that?” he demanded.

“Yeah, yolk’s on you, huevos rancheros,” I said pointedly, gesticulating at my phone as if Eggman could see me through it.  “’Cause your plans are getting scrambled!   I’mma poach that sun, and it’ll be over easy!”

Admittedly, I have no idea what was with the egg puns.  I may have skipped breakfast that morning.  In any case, it seemed to shut him up.  There was a moment of silence, so I thought I might’ve broken him.

…And that’s when the giant laser started chasing me.

“You’re a real soldier now, rookie,” Knuckles said. “You can do this!”

I must have been getting close because everyone was cheering me on now.  Despite certain death being on my tail, I couldn’t help but crack a grin.  This was the kind of hero I wanted to be.  I had restored hope where it had been lost!  Now I just had to bring those hopes to life!

“Hang in there a bit longer!” Amy said as I reached the final stretch: a flat-out run on a ramp curving around the tower.

“Show everyone what you’re made of!” Vector said.  Even as the giant laser closed in, I could see the top ahead of me.

“C’mon, you can make it!” Knuckles said.

I finally made it to the top, but there was no time to rest.  With the giant laser right behind me, I ran to the opposite side of the roof and leapt off.  I shot my grapnel into the sky. It was a wild shot and flew right by the ship I was trying to hit.  I don’t know what it _did_ hit, but I found myself flying straight towards the burning orb in the sky.

I heard Infinite say, “Make peace with your fate, because you’re lives are now over!”  I’m certain it was over the phone as he addressed the others, but it felt like it went straight into my head.

I could feel the sheer malevolence exuded by the sun even before I began to feel its heat.  It was something beyond anger, beyond even hatred.  Just a pure desire to see all that lived, all that stood, everything that represented life on this world smashed, torn to pieces, and razed to the ground.  A desire to see all the fear and agony in every person, every robot, every unsuspecting being that could bear witness to this glorious masterpiece of destruction.  A malevolence that no one was safe from.  Not even Eggman.

I don’t know if it was the light or the emotions, but I could feel my eyes tearing up.  Infinite was a monster.  A monster that would stab its own master in the back without a second thought with both malice and forethought.  I was certain of it.

The heat and spite were stifling.  Crushing.  I was practically choking on it.  It filled me with terror and doubt.  I could feel the wire trembling as I grew closer.  Even the Phantom Ruby prototype in my hand seemed to tremble in its presence, as if it were mirroring my emotions.  I started to doubt myself again.  Just being this close to the sun was hard.  I wanted to go back.  Back to easier times.  Back to what I understood.  Back to what I loved.

The line suddenly snapped right in front of me. The momentum carried me up further towards the sun, but I could feel gravity start to take over.  For a moment, I was floating, hovering in a state of freefall.  It would have been so easy to just turn around, just let myself fall back to Earth.

But…

“No!” I heard myself shout.  I reached out and grabbed the wire in front of me, twisting it around my hand.  “That is not the way back!”  I began pulling myself upward.  “Phantom Ruby prototype!  Can you hear me!?  I can feel you, just as you feel me!  Listen to me! I want to go back! I want to see my family again! I want to laugh with my friends again! I want to kick Eggman and Infinite’s butts! But what we want isn’t behind us!”

I shot another wire into the sun and speed up my advance.

“If we turn around now, everything we’ve fought for will vanish!” I continued.  “What we want is straight ahead of us!  The only thing standing in our way is that sun!  Don’t you want things, too?  Do you want to just be another failed prototype, or do you want to show that so-called ‘Perfect’ Phantom Ruby what a real ultimate weapon looks like!?”

I could feel the heat and malevolence ebb away as the prototype’s aura enveloped me.  I grit my teeth and readied my Wispon for the final attack.  “Let’s do this, Ruby!”

“Unlimited colors!”

That voice!  It was the same voice that the Wispons used to report their status, usually calling out their name when fully charged.  I had never heard it say this before, though.

“Drill!” it said, identifying the Wispon I already had.  “Burst!”

The red, flamethrowing Wispon appeared in the air in front of me and attached itself to the side of the Drill with a satisfying clank and a spray of sparks.

“Lightning!”

The ivory-colored, electric Wispon appeared and snapped onto the opposite side.

“Cube!  Asteroid! Hover!  Void!” All the Wispons had combined to form a colorful Gatling gun. “Final Color Blaster!”

“C’mon, is that all you got!?” I demanded. “I said a _real_ ultimate weapon!  Dream a little bigger!”

“ _All_ the Colors!” the voice declared as Wispons I’ve never seen before and probably didn’t exist started to appear. “Boost! Frenzy! Spikes! Laser! Rocket!”

I could hear Eggman laugh and begin his countdown.  “Three.”

“Eagle! Rhythm! Quake! Bomb!”

“Two.”

“Omega! Silver! Shadow! Rouge!”

“One.”

“Vector! Charmy! Espio! Knuckles! Amy! Tails!  Sonic!”

“Zero!”

Every single one stacked onto the front of the Wispon, making it longer and longer.  A purple glow rose from the base of the Wispon and enveloped it in a column of light.  When it faded, the Wispon had become a massive, purple-and-black, crystal sword.

_“PHANTOM CRISIS EX-COLOR-BUR!”_

“SAY GOODNIGHT!” I shouted as I raised the Phantom Crisis Excolorbur above my head and swung it down as hard as I could.  The sun loosed a roaring torrent of searing-hot wind as the sword tore a gash in its surface.  The sun seemed to explode all over again, shattering the sword and enveloping my world in a bright, white light.

Then everything went dark.  All I could hear was the sound of wind rushing past my ears.  And then…

…Cheering.

“The sun!” I heard Knuckles say over my phone. “It’s gone!”

I opened my eyes and let out a laugh.  I was never before so happy to see such a dark and dreary sky.  “Yeah!  I did it!”

I used the last of the Phantom Ruby prototype’s power to fly back to the tower. I could feel it waning as I approached and used my grapnel to swing to the tower before the Ruby gave out.  My feet hit the tower uncertainly and the world began to blur.  I guess I used up all my energy, too, and the adrenaline was starting to wear off.  I stumbled and fell face-first onto the roof.  Maybe I was just feeling loopy, but I could swear I heard a “Thank you” just before the Phantom Ruby prototype hit the roof and shattered in my hand.

“Ruby,” I groaned.  I felt like I had just lost a friend…

…Well, maybe it didn’t go _quite_ like that…

“Impossible!” Eggman said as he flew up to the roof.  “I thought all the prototypes were destroyed!”

“A costly oversight, Doctor,” Tails said as he flew over to me. “This is why I always check and double check as any good scientist would.” He helped me to my feet and asked, “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” I croaked out.  “But how’s Sonic?”

“Sonic?” Tails said. “He seemed fine to me.  Why?”

“I just thought he might be having a hard time,” I explained.  “If he had been conditioned to be afraid of a virtual sun…”

Eggman laughed.  “A brilliant idea!  If only I had thought of it sooner!  Perfect!  I’m writing that one down!”

“What?” I said.  “You didn’t…?”

“Crisis,” Tails said.  “You do realize there are _two_ Sonics here, right?  Heck, I don’t think any of us were waiting for _Sonic_ to save the day.  If any of us thought we could’ve done something, we would’ve.”

“Oh, well,” I said, stammering as I tried to find the words.  Suffice it to say, I felt like an idiot.  “I guess I was worrying for nothing.” I turned back to Eggman.  “I don’t understand, though. He doesn’t _look_ like he’s been tortured.  What _did_ you do to him?”

“Spoilers,” Eggman said with an evil cackle.

“What?” I replied uncomprehendingly.  It sounded to me like he expected us to find out on our own.

“You mad man!” Tails exclaimed.

“Sonic may be the fastest thing alive in terms of overall land speed,” Eggman explained, “But he’s very slow to consume media. With such a huge backlog of shows, books and games left unfinished, how could I not take every opportunity to ruin each and every experience for him? And with so little to do on the Death Egg, it was a simple matter to get him hooked on something new and start the cycle all over again!”

“You monster!” I replied as his laughter echoed through the Iron Fortress.  “Have you no shame, you cruel creature!?”

By this time, our fleet had moved in.  Battles were now flaring up in the skies above as well as on the ground below.  Our troops had broken through the front line of virtual villains and were swarming into the fortress itself.

“I’ll deal with you two later,”Eggman laughed before flying off to marshal his own forces.

“And we were so looking forward to catching up on The Walking Dead together, too,” Tails said, shaking his head sadly.

This seemed like a good time to relax.  We were relatively isolated up here, and with an entire army and two Sonics no one was going to miss the two of us in this battle.  But something was still bothering me.

“That must have used up a ton of energy,” Tails said into his phone. “The Phantom Ruby should be weaker now! This is our only chance to defeat Infinite!”

 “Where is Infinite?” I asked.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Tails said.  “He disappeared shortly after the sun did.  He probably hid so he could recharge the Phantom Ruby in safety.”

I looked at the Phantom Ruby dust still lingering on my fingers.  “I dunno.  I still have a bad feeling.”

I heard the chatter over my phone and looked to the skies.  Our air support had taken heavy losses and was forced to turn back.

“I’m going to find Sonic,” I said.  I took a running leap off the building and swung through the fortress with my grapnel.

“Wait!” Tails said as he flew after me.  “Are you sure you can handle this?”

“I just took out the sun,” I said.  “I think I can handle anything.”

“And you could barely stand afterwards!” Tails argued.

“I just got my second wind,” I said.  “I’ll be alright.  You find the other Sonic in case he needs back up.”

“Alright,” Tails said glumly before he took off.  “You just be careful.”

Tracking down Sonic wasn’t difficult.  Few others could leave a trail of explosions as quickly as he could.  Unfortunately, Infinite had found him first.

“Pathetic little hedgehog,” Infinite said.  Sonic was still on the party line and I could hear every word. “Even with the Phantom Ruby weakened, I still have enough power to smash you into blue jelly. I’ll show you just how outclassed you really are!”

“I’m in a class all my own!” Sonic said.  “Time to put-up or shut up, Infinite!”

Curse my luck.  The fight was already starting, and I was about a minute away from their location.  I had no doubt Sonic could hold out until I arrived, probably even defeat him, but I didn’t want to leave anything to chance.  Besides, I had a score to settle, too.

“What would you like your epitaph to read?” Infinite asked. “How about ‘Here lies the blue buffoon’?”

“Why not ‘Here dozes the masked clown’?” Sonic suggested. “Might as well make it for the person who needs one, right?”

Heh.  Classic Sonic.

Their running battle didn’t make them any easier to catch up to, but those red voxel pinwheels were unmistakable.  Not to mention Infinite was absolutely huge now.  Eventually, Sonic managed to break through Infinite’s defenses and crash into him.  This stopped Infinite in his tracks, but he was still hovering above the course.

 “You’re done for, Sonic,” Infinite said as the glow around him intensified.  “The Phantom Ruby’s energy is recharged.” He unleashed a virtual shock wave, but it barely made Sonic flinch. “Perish, along with your useless friends!”

I finally made it!  I shot a wire past Infinite, distracting him from whatever it was he was about to do, and landed next to Sonic.

 “You!” Infinite growled.

“My friends got me this far,” Sonic said.

“And together we’re gonna win!” I concluded.

“You’re even finishing each other’s sentences,” Infinite remarked dryly as we began to chase after him.  “How adorable.  But friends are nothing but a fleeting illusion. You can count on nobody but yourself!”

“Your mask can’t hide how sad and lonely you are!” Sonic shot back. “That Phantom Ruby virtual reality of yours is the real illusion!”

“And how about you get some new material?” I said as we wove around his pinwheels.  “Your entire army is just four guys repeated over and over!  And this fight’s just like the one we had with Metal Sonic!”

“This is nothing like that battle!” Infinite said as he barreled into us.

“You kind of have to admit, it’s pretty similar,” Sonic said as we dove out of his path.

“Enough out of you!” Infinite said as he reappeared before us and summoned a ring of Motobugs around himself.  “You won’t have room to criticize when you’re dead!”

“I was thinking the same thing!” Sonic said as we blew through his defenses.  We struck him squarely in the face and sent him reeling.  “Here goes, partner!” The two of us joined hands once more. “When we join forces, the sky’s the limit! _Double BOOST!_ ”

“Hey, Infinite,” I said was we plowed through him and sent him crashing to the ground. “Feeling challenged yet?”

 “Impossible,” Infinite said as he dragged himself to his feet. “I cannot be defeated.”

“Wrong, loser!” Sonic replied. “The things that can’t be defeated are heart, soul, and the bonds of friendship. Three things you and your counterfeit cronies lack!”

 Infinite’s form began to flicker and fade away before our eyes.

“No, wait!” he cried out as he reached out to us.  “I can still fight!”

He struggled to remain visible before disappearing in a streak of red light that shot to the top of the Central Tower behind us.  We just stood there in utter bewilderment without any clue what just happened.  It as if he had been dragged away by an unseen power.  Before we could speculate, Eggman descended upon us.

“You never fail to surprise me, Sonic,” he said. “I didn’t believe Infinite could lose. Victory will be so much sweeter when I defeat you. Don’t think this is over yet, you blue nuisance. My plan just went into overtime!”

Eggman didn’t stick around to banter further and instead took off to prepare his revised ultimate plan.  There was no time for us to rest, either.  We had to find a way into the central tower so we could take out the source of the Phantom Ruby’s power.  Even without having to fight off hordes of monsters, finding the entrance was surprisingly difficult.  We had teams crawling all over that tower only to turn up nothing, but fortunately the other Sonic managed to find a way in.  After that, it was up to me and our Sonic to charge in and finish the job.

“The Phantom Ruby is headed for the reactor,” Tails told us over the phone as the two of us raced down the corridor. “You have to hurry!”

“The reactor is in the innermost part of the fortress,” Amy explained. “But the defense system is too tough to break through by normal means.”

“Good thing we’re not normal,” Sonic said. “We’ll find a way through!”

Between the giant, grinding gears and the laser-shooting robots, the corridor was tight and dangerous to maneuver in.  And then there were the electrified rails we had to grind down. Fortunately, the sequence they charged in was predictable enough that our quick reflexes got us through relatively unscathed.

“What are in all these tubes?” I wondered aloud as I noticed the walls we were grinding past. “They look like… Jackals?”

“So this is where Eggman built Infinite,” Tails noted.

“It’s so sad,” Amy lamented.  “What a lonely place to be brought into the world.”

“Wait,” I said as the grinding ceased and we were dodging lasers and gears again.  “Infinite’s a robot?”

“Yeah, why wouldn’t he be?” Sonic asked. “Robots are kinda Eggman’s thing.”

“But what about the time he tricked Knuckles into fighting you?” I said.  “Or summoned Chaos to fight you?  Or tricked Shadow into fighting you? Or used a magic trumpet to controls demons to…?”

“First of all, it was a conch shell,” Sonic said. “And secondly, why would Eggman install his most powerful weapon into something he couldn’t control?”

“Yeah, well,” I said, faltering.  “I don’t know, but Infinite doesn’t look, sound, feel, smell, or taste at all like a robot.”

“How do you know what a robot tastes like?” Sonic asked.  “How do you know what _Infinite_ tastes like?”

“Er, well…” I stammered awkwardly. “You see, a couple months ago…”

“The reactor is close,” Tails interrupted.  “Hurry!”

I was thankful for that interruption.  I did _not_ want to talk about that right then.  Or now, for that matter.  Please, just forget I brought it up.

Before long, we dropped into the reactor’s core.  It was a massive, round chamber with a huge tube in the center. Around it were three more tubes, each containing what looked like a massive Phantom Ruby.

“Well, I’ll be,” Knuckles said.  “They made it! They actually made it!”

“Gee, don’t sound _too_ surprised, boss,” I said.

“I could use a little breather right about now,” Sonic said as robots began to close in around us. “I’ll feel better once we blow this thing to pieces!”

“Right,” I said as I revved up my Drill Wispon.  “Step one: Destroy everything. Step two: Leg it.  Step four: Profit!”

“What happened to step three?” Sonic asked.

“Still working on it,” I said.

We split up, each going around the around the core on opposite sides.  We quickly took out the robots and the first two tubes, then dodged lasers while double-teaming the third.  Soon, the whole thing was coming down around us and we booked it out through an exhaust shaft.

“Pretty thrilling, huh, partner?” Sonic said as the massive wall of flame closed in behind us.

“I dunno,” I said, side-stepping some falling debris.  “Could use a few more explosions.”

“It’s time to head back.” He extended his hand to me again for the third time today.  “Everyone’s waiting for us. _Double BOOST!_ ”

The entire shaft was already starting to collapse, explosions erupting ahead of us as well as from behind.  At the speed we were going, though, the flames could barely touch us and the disintegrating structure was more than steady enough to launch our every step forward.  We soon shot out from the shaft like bullets, complete with muzzle flash from the shaft behind us.  We dropped to the ground before the eruption could catch us and make a perfect landing as Tails flew over to us with the other Sonic in tow.

“We did it!” Sonic declared. “Eggman’s army is officially butt-kicked.  We won!”

The two of us turned to fist bump, only to be interrupted by a tremor that almost knocked us off our feet.

“Oh, come on!”  Sonic griped. “Now what? Can’t we ever just win and have that be the end of it?”

“Look!” Tails said as he pointed behind us.

We turned to see a massive robot rise from the crater behind us.  The steel-gray, multi-limbed monstrosity slithered into the air on a singular, segmented tail.  It loomed over us, light from its honeycombed energy barrier reflecting off the windshield over the iris in its chest.

“Gotcha!” Eggman’s voice blared out from an unseen amplifier. “The fortress reactor was just a decoy. A true winner keeps his trump card hidden until the end.”

“I knew we were forgetting something,” I remarked with a tired sigh.

“Sonic, what’s going on?” Vector demanded over the phone. “There aren’t _less_ enemies! There’s _MORE_!”

Tails’ reaction mirrored my own. “What!?”

“How could there be so many?” Amy cried out.

“Confirmed sightings indicate Shadow, Metal Sonic, Zavok, Chaos, Infinite…” Rouge reported. “Thousands of them!”

“What have you done!?” Sonic demanded.

Eggman’s vile laugh echoed from within the robot. “I merely incorporated the Phantom Ruby into this Death Egg Robot.”

“So it’s like a _Phantom_ Death Egg Robot?” I remarked, pondering the implications of the nomenclature.  “A Death Egg Phantasm?”

“You’re missing the bigger picture here!” Tails said. “This means the Phantom Ruby no longer has a vulnerable energy supply.  It’s an _invulnerable_ ruby!”

“A good deduction, Tails,” Eggman said. “This Death Egg Robot has… No, _I_ have surpassed Infinite to become the complete and ultimate form. You will be crushed by this _Mega_ Death Egg Robot powered by the Phantom Ruby, and in the end everything will still be just as I planned!”

He laughed maniacally as the Phantom Ruby unleashed a shockwave that nearly knocked us off our feet.

“You know what?” I said with an exasperated sigh.  “I’ve had about enough out of you.” I turned to Sonic, gesticulating wildy. “Look at what we’re dealing with, man! You gotta draw the line somewhere!  You gotta draw a line in the proverbial sand, dude! You gotta make a statement!  You gotta look inside yourself and say, ‘What am I willing to put up with today!?’ Not _remotely_ this!”

 “Your plan will end like all your plans do,” Sonic said to Eggman as the other Sonic and I stepped forward. “With you sitting on a pile of busted robot parts wondering how you failed so badly.” He turned to us.  “Let’s get ‘em.”

 “He’s overclocking the Phantom Ruby!” Tails reported over the phone as the three of us  charged into the fray.  “That’s insane!”

 “No regular tool can damage it now.” Rouge said as we leapt over a giant laser fired from the robot’s eye. “You’re our last chance!”

The Death Egg Robot dug its hands into the ground and dredged up a shower of boulders to throw our way.

“Give it your all, Sonic!” Tails said as the other Sonic charged forward. “You’ll always be our shining hope!”

The other Sonic leapt up and headed one of the boulders like a Soccer ball.  It flew straight towards the robot’s windshield, only to bounce off the energy barrier and fly towards us again!  The other Sonic knocked it back again, this time with enough force to make it break through the barrier and crack the robot’s windshield.

After that, the robot began launching homing missiles from its fingers.  We split up, running in different directions to confuse the missiles and destroy the Egg Pawns that appeared before us.  I ran straight for the Death Egg Robot, only deviating from my course to leapt out of the path of its monumental fist.

“Go on, rookie!”  Vector cheered as I leapt onto the hand and ran up the arm. “I know you can do this!”

“Our fate is in your hands!” Silver declared.

I used my grapnel to zip-line to the cracked windshield before Eggman could swat me off.

“Knock knock!” I said as I revved up my Drill Wispon and began boring into the windshield.  Sparks flew as more and more cracks spidered across the already-damaged surface.  Before I could break it myself, however, a rhythmic beating echoed from within the robot.  It shook so hard, I could no longer maintain my stance and had to zip-line back to the ground.

The Sonics joined me as we watched the glass shatter and the iris behind it pucker outwards.  After several tense moments, a white tentacle broke through, quickly followed by several more before a smaller machine burst forth from the Death Egg Robot’s chest. The world disappeared around us as we beheld this new, Eldritch machination and we found ourselves in null space once again.

The null space we sped through in pursuit of the robot was different from the one Infinite had banished us to earlier.  It was far darker, like the blackness of space with streams of ruby mist between us and the stars.  A road of cubes rose up to meet us as before, but they, too, were darker than the last ones.

“End this, Sonic!” Knuckles decreed as we dodged the lasers the robot spewed. “Defeat him!”

“Go for it, Sonic!” Amy cheered as we avoided the streams of red voxels the robot exhaled at us.

“Hey, there’s three of us here, you know!” I complained as we closed in and Sonic leapt at the robot.  With several successive blows, it slowed down enough for the other Sonic and I to get our licks in as well.  We pounded away at the machine, I decided I had one last thing I needed to get off my chest. “You guys, I know this is a bad time, so I’ll make this quick.  These last three days have been the most amazing in my life.  I want this moment to last forever! I want this feeling to never end!  I love you, each and every one of you, so very much! Even if we never met again after this, I will always remember this, and that memory will only get more glorious with time! So let’s make this a moment worth remembering!”

“You said it!” Sonic said as we leapt into the air. “There is nothing the three of us can’t achieve together!” We sailed through the air, picking up speed as spiraled around each other. “Victory is ours for the taking! **_Triple_ _BOOST_**!”

We surged right through the robot, resulting in what I’m sure was a glorious explosion as null space crumbled.  Reality asserted itself once again, and without the Phantom Ruby’s influence the army of virtual villains vanished into nothingness.  The soldiers were already cheering as we caught up with them.  It was finally over.

But with this victory came one last tragedy.  Although he persisted longer than the virtual villains, without the Phantom Ruby’s power there was nothing keeping the other Sonic in our reality.  Now that Eggman and Infinite had been defeated and peace was restored, the only unfinished business he had was to see us one last time.

“I guess this is good bye,” Tails said as the other Sonic began to fade. “Get home safely, Sonic, and thanks for everything!”

The two shook hands and the other Sonic gave a thumbs-up.  We all kept our distance to give them space, but we all waved as the blue motes rising from him increased.  Tails and the other Sonic gave one last fist bump, and the other Sonic waved back to us.  Tails reached out to him once more, only for his hand to pass through the other Sonic as he faded away entirely.

Sonic put a hand on Tails’ shoulder as we walked up to him.  Tails looked like he had lost his best friend, and in a way I guess he did.  He was as close to the other Sonic as he was with ours, and with Sonic teaming up with me so often Tails must’ve been spending a lot more time with the other one.

“Cheer up, Tails,” Sonic said. “I’m sure we’ll run into him again.”

Tails seemed satisfied with that, and Sonic was probably right, but I still wanted to hug him.

“Alright, guys!” Sonic said as the turned to the crowd. “It’s time we cleaned up the mess that Eggman left this world in, and I’m not talking about those illusions he dreamed up for us! We need to fix the real world we all live in!”

“True dat,” Tails said.

“Here, here,” I said.

“C’mon, let’s go!” Sonic said as he led the way back to HQ.

Time passed and reconstruction was underway.  I felt like I was waking up from a long dream.  It started as a nightmare, but as I struggled and persevered it transformed into my greatest fantasy.  Soon, the world would be as it once was, if not better, and we’d all get to finally go home.

And yet, I couldn’t shake this feeling.  The one I had before we left Metropolis.  Like the other Sonic, the only reason I was here was ultimately the Phantom Ruby.  Would I fade away, too?  Would I be remembered? How?  As a hero who stood on my own, or as another one of Sonic’s friends?  Would I ever see the world I saved, or go home and toil in obscurity?  But, most pressing of all, what did I _want_ to do?

I was thinking these things at my last meeting with the Resistance. Most of us were in the situation room, chatting amongst ourselves, although I was staring up at the main screen lost in thought.  I reached into my pocket and was amused to find my Sonic doll there instead of the Phantom Ruby prototype as had been the case recently.

What would Sonic do?  I smiled to myself.  I think I had a pretty good idea.

Eventually Knuckles walked in, and the only one of us not present was Sonic.

“Finally, an end to this endless battle,” Knuckles said. “Everyone can go back home and relax. There’s no need for the Resistance.”

“Hold on,” Silver said as he hopped off the crate he was sitting on. “There’s still a lot we need to do. We’re just getting started.”

“Hey, boss,” I said Knuckles. “I need to tell you something.”

“What?” Knuckles asked.

“I think this is going to be my last day,” I said.  I still felt uncertain, but I had already made up my mind.  “I want… I need to get out there and strike out on my own.  If I don’t do it now, I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to again.”

“You’re leaving us?” Knuckles said. “There are others who need your help… But OK, I’m not gonna stop you.”

 “Man,” Vector said as he shook his head. “The first time I saw you stumbling around, I had no idea you could pull this thing together and see it through to the end.” He walked up to me and put a hand on my shoulder. “I’ve changed my mind about you.”

I chuckled awkwardly.  “Thanks… I think.”

 “I knew you’d come through, rookie,” Knuckles said, crossing his arms. “Well, I guess you’re not a rookie anymore!”

 “You did good out there,” Rouge said as she shoved Knuckles aside on her way to me. “It’s not like you just waited till the last minute to come in and act all cool saving the day.”

She was, of course, referring to Omega, who attempted to swat at her.  Shadow chuckled from the corner.

 “Our battle is done,” Tails said as he approached the table we had gathered around by now, “And our resistance has come to a conclusion, but we’ll be friends forever. A single person cannot restore the entire world. We have to work together and make a diligent effort.”

We all nodded in agreement.

After the meeting, there was one last thing I needed to take care of.  The sun was setting in the City, and I walked out to a terrace with a view of the bay.  I was only half surprised to find Sonic there waiting for me.

“Hey, you’re taking off, too?” he asked, turning slightly towards me as I walked up next to him. “I was thinking the same thing. You gonna keep moving forward? No matter what, yeah? Heh, you and I aren’t so different.”

“Yeah,” I chuckled.  I held my hands behind my back and looked out at the bay.  “I just have one last thing I need to do.”  I took out my Sonic doll. “I’ve had this doll for as long as I can remember.  When we all thought you were dead, and Eggman took over the world, I would pray to you.  Even though you couldn’t save me in real life, I hoped you would save my soul.  When I felt overwhelmed, I would pray to you for strength.”

I was focused on the doll the whole time, too embarrassed to look at him as I spoke.  I thought he might be creeped out, but when I finally met his face he looked… touched?

“Did you get what you wanted?” he asked with a smile.  I guess he already knew the answer.

I nodded happily.  “And more.” I looked out at the bay again.  “I came out here because I thought that maybe I didn’t need this anymore.  We’re equals now, true heroes who inspire such strength in others, so I don’t need to borrow yours anymore.  So I thought the best way to symbolize that was to toss away this vestige of my former, weaker self.  And what better place than right here, right now?”

I raised my hand to do just that, but Sonic grabbed it.

“You might not need my strength anymore,” he said as he brought my hand back down, “But you’ll still have it anytime you want.”

I smiled at him. “I know.  I was actually hoping to run into you.” I put the doll in my pocket and pulled out a second trinket. “I came to the same conclusion, and, by the same token, you will always have my strength, too.” 

I handed him a doll I fashioned in my own likeness.  It was smaller than the Sonic doll and not nearly as articulated. Really more of a charm than anything else.

“I made that in the 3D printer before I left,” I explained.  “I kinda figured, since I would pray to you, maybe… you could… pray to me?”

Sonic laughed and shook his head.  “You’re one in a million, Crisis.”  He took the charm and gripped it in his hand.  “Thanks.”

I couldn’t hold back anymore and hugged him.  Not in a romantic way or anything.  I just wanted to touch him, one last time, the way Tails couldn’t with the other Sonic.  But then I pricked my fingers on his quills and recoiled, swearing loudly.  I guess I forgot he was a hedgehog for a moment.

“And that is why we fist bump,” Sonic said with a chuckle as he held up his fist. I returned the gesture. “See ya later, Crisis!”

With that, he was off.  He turned one last time to give me a thumbs-up and I waved back at him.

Once his back was turned, I examined my hand.  It still hurt from the quills, but it didn’t look like I drew blood.  I smiled, still feeling the impression of his knuckles against mine.  One more pair of gloves for the bronzer, I guess.  I took off in the opposite direction, leaping from the terrace and swinging with my grapnel.  I was certain I would see him again, but until then I had other adventures waiting for me!


End file.
